Behind the Lights
by 0x0xLOVE and WARx0x0
Summary: [Cody’s eyes flew open just in time to spot two large yellow circles of light coming at them coming at them fast.] A tragic event changes Cody Martin's life, in more ways than one. While the outside heals, the inside must fight to stay sane.
1. the prologue

**the prologue.**

"This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

_- Winston Churchill_

_august twelfth two thousand seven._

"I'm gunna miss you, man," Cody Martin told his twin brother, Zack, sincerely as he zipped up his stuffed suitcase with a swift movement.

Zack rolled his eyes, "Yeah right. You'll be having too much fricking fun with the fricking band to worry about missing your fricking sick brother."

"Please," Cody retorted, turning and facing him, "I'm going to be stuck in a hot tour bus for two weeks. It's not going to be any fun at all."

Zack rolled his eyes again, "You need a _serious_ reality check if you think it's not going to be _fun_ to be right on stage with the band with the music blasting and your heart pounding and-"

"Fun for you," Cody but in, "I haven't finished my summer reading list yet and I have tons of stuff to do around here to get ready for school. I don't even know why I agreed to go on this stupid trip."

"Because _you_ want to see Dad. _You_ haven't seen him in what, like eight months, and _you_ get to spend two weeks with him, while _I'm_ stuck here in this fricking boring hotel by myself – no Mom does not count."

Cody smiled sympathetically, "Yeah I guess you're right. I mean it is gunna be cool to see him, and maybe it'll be fun."

Zack nodded.

"Still gunna miss you."

Zack shook his head as he snatched a pillow off the bed and flung it his brother.

* * *

"Mom-mom I can't breathe," Cody choked out as his mother hugged him hard, much harder than any human being should be hugged. 

"Sorry," Carey said with a smile as she released her youngest son and he re-filled his lungs with air. She stared at him for a few minutes before lunging in to hug him again.

"Mom, it's only two weeks."

Carey nodded as she released him again, a smile on her face, "Yeah, and before you know it, you'll be back here and getting ready to start hi-high school."

Carey's voice shook slightly at the last two words and she blinked back tears.

Cody rolled his eyes.

Kurt laughed slightly, "C'mon Cody. We've gotta get rockin' and a rollin'."

Cody nodded and grabbed his bag from the floor, "Bye Mom," He said with a smile.

Carey waved as the two started to exit the hotel into the pouring down rain, hoods held securely over heads.

Cody turned abruptly, "Oh Mom, would you tell Zack I said bye?"

"I thought you two did that already."

Cody shrugged.

She laughed, "Yes, yes I'll tell him, now go."

Cody laughed as well and turned and rushed out the door after his father.

* * *

"So, you excited?" Kurt asked his son, after the pair had been driving in almost silence for five minutes. 

Cody nodded from the backseat, "Yeah. Where are we going anyway?"

Kurt grinned, glad to be making conversation, "Well. First we're gunna meet up with the tour bus in Cambridge and I'll return this rental. And then the band's gunna do a few shows here and there in Massachusetts and in between we'll be able to do all that fun stuff I told you about on the phone."

Cody grinned, "Sounds like fun."

And it really did.

* * *

"Damnit!" Kurt yelled, shattering the silence that had fallen over the two yet again. Cody jumped, startled, cringing slightly. 

"What's uhh what's wrong?"

Kurt turned to look at his son, clearly flustered, "This rain's getting too thick. I can't see anything."

Cody felt his heart rate pick up, "Wha-what do you mean too thick?"

Kurt pointed out the windshield, "That's what I mean."

Cody gripped the edge of the seat with both hands. You couldn't make out much of anything outside. The rain was pouring down in sheets and covering everything. The only things, perhaps, that you could see were the bright street lights, but even those were blurred by the water.

The car splashed through a puddle, spraying even more water up on the sides of the car.

Kurt leaned forward in his seat, both hands gripped tightly on the wheel.

Cody shut his eyes, _"Oh God. God if we get through this I swear I'll never ever do anything bad or stupid and I'll always wear my seatbelt and I'll never let Zack swear or anything and I'll never pull a prank as long as I live. And I'll uhh I'll…do whatever anyone tells me to do, unless it's some stupid obscene thing that you wouldn't approve of cause that's going against doing something bad or stupid which I already said I wouldn't do and…"_

Cody's eyes flew open just in time to spot two large yellow circles of light coming at them; coming at them _fast._

"_DAD!_" Cody screamed, "_Dad, move_!"

The car didn't move.

Cody screamed again.

There was an ear-splitting grinding of metal against metal.

And then the world swirled to black.


	2. the first chapter

So uhm, I really hesitated about posting this today. Because I'm trying to keep with a new system where I write one chapter and then wait until the following chapter is written to post that chapter (as in, I've had this chapter typed up since the prologue was posted). But anyways, I haven't exactly finished the second chapter yet so, I was hesitant. Because I'm really trying to keep with this system and I really really don't want to break out of it. But I felt bad because I haven't updated in almost three weeks and I figured I owed it to you all. So here you have it. I'm sorry it's short. Enjoy. :)

**

* * *

**

the first chapter.

"It is neither good nor bad, but thinking makes it so."

_- William Shakespeare_

_september twenty-third two thousand seven._

_six weeks later._

The sky was a brilliant shade of blue. The grass was still green, even with fall a few days in. The birds were still singing. And the warm sun fell onto Cody's face, his eyes lighting up for the first time in weeks.

His mother and brother walked alongside him, him and the nurse that pushed the wheelchair he didn't need but was part of the discharge procedure.

Cody had fallen into a coma almost instantly and had awoken two weeks later in St. Elizabeth's Medical Center with a knee that had had the heck banged out of it and an arm that wasn't much better. Thankfully, his arm had healed and his knee, after the surgery, was going to be as good as new in no time. They'd gotten lucky with his knee. It had been thought, or brought up, that he might have had to replace his entire knee. But it was discovered that it did not have to be, which received a tremendous cheer from the small Martin family.

But, and Cody thought about this as they made their way down the walk, he wasn't near as bad off as his father. Kurt, unfortunately, had been in a coma since the accident with more severe injuries. And Cody thought about how it wasn't fair. Cody had spent hours in his father's room, when he was able to see him, just staring at him and waiting, _waiting_ for him to wake up. But he hadn't.

Cody thought, for the thousandth time, about the guy that had hit them that night. He didn't know anything about him, he didn't even know his name, and yet he felt bad for him. He felt bad that he got to go home and continue living his normal, ordinary life when that guy could be out there somewhere hurt or- or dying or dead. He shivered involuntarily and felt Carey's hand gently squeeze his shoulder. He didn't look up. No one knew anything about that guy (the only thing anyone had _ever_ told the Martins was that the person that had run into the car had been a middle-aged man), and part of Cody didn't want to know; the other was dying to.

He twisted around and watched the hospital slowly get smaller, though only slightly, it wasn't that far of a walk.

"I don't want to leave," He whispered softly. He could feel his family's gentle frowns and stares boring through his head. He didn't look up at them.

Cody felt his mother's hand descend to his shoulder again.

"We'll be back soon," she told him.

"And besides," Zack attempted, "Mom's food is _way_ better than that gross hospital junk they tried to feed you." Cody didn't turn around to see the grin on his brother's face.

Presently, he felt the chair come to a stop, but he still didn't turn. He heard his mother and brother and the nurse all talking to each other about this and that (he didn't pay attention to what). He heard the car door open and shut a few times.

Carey was smiling as she helped Cody out of the wheelchair, though his attention was still focused on the hospital looming behind them.

Cody heard the car door open once more. This sound shook his attention from the hospital and his father and he turned slowly.

And then he saw the car.


	3. the second chapter

Well, yes so I started a system. And hopefully it'll work from here on out. Anyway, I **don't** have Chapter Three written yet. So please, please, please be patient in me getting that up. Because it could take a while. So. I hope you enjoy this. And I sincerely hope you don't have to wait for forever for me to update. I know, I'm horrible at updating. Enjoy. :)

* * *

**the second chapter.**

"Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home."

_John Howard Payne_

Cody's entire body tensed. His heart began to thud heavily in his chest and his hands shook violently. He trembled under Carey's hands as she gently led him to the car. Cody hesitantly seated himself and jumped when Zack slammed the door shut.

He gripped the edges of the seat tightly and faced the window, avoiding any visual assurance of the car he was now riding in. The hospital was quickly sliding out of his line of vision. He tried to swivel around and watch out the rear window, but found that it hurt his knee to do this and stopped.

His face was white as his eyes flitted around the interior of the car. Old magazines and maps were tossed carelessly onto the floor. A half-empty coke bottle rested in the cup holder, rocking back and forth, the dark drink swishing and Cody suddenly felt nauseous.

He gripped the edge of the seat tighter, his knuckles turning white, and closed his eyes, squishing them shut.

_Cody's eyes flew open just in time to spot two large yellow circles of light coming at them; coming at them __fast._

"_DAD!__" Cody screamed, "__Dad, move__!"_

Cody's eyes flew open, heart racing, his breathing heavy. Carey peered at him through the rear-view mirror.

"You, okay baby?"

Cody jerked his head up and nodded shyly,

"Fine," He croaked.

* * *

Cody's lungs emptied with relief as the car finally pulled up to the Tipton, not five minutes later. His shaking hands calmed as Carey killed the engine. Zack whirled around and grinned at him,

"Welcome home, little brother."

But Cody was too busy staring at the enormous hotel looming before them to take note. He was home; for the first time in six weeks he was home.

Carey's smile was painted on and from ear to ear as she helped him from the car. He limped, leaning on his cane, up the few steps. Unable to contain his excitement, he rushed (as much as physically possible) ahead of his mother and brother his eyes dancing as he pushed through the revolving doors.

"SURPRISE!"

Cody, startled, jumped and stopped abruptly. The elegant lobby was filled with Tipton employees, including Mr. Moseby, Esteban, Maddie, Norman, and all the others, various friends and a whole bunch of other people Cody wasn't even sure he knew.

Overwhelmed, Cody hesitantly stepped backwards slowly. Carey gently wrapped her arms around him, still wearing her smile. Cody slowly looked up at her. His eyes were no longer dancing.

Zack rushed up to his brother, grinning widely as he grabbed his brother's hand,

"C'mon!"

Cody nearly fell trying to keep up with his brother as they made their way into the large crowd.

"Be careful!" Carey shouted after them. Cody glanced behind him at her, eyes pleading though she remained oblivious.

Zack and Cody snaked their way through the crowd, Zack stopping to talk to random people, who, naturally, only wanted to talk to Cody, who didn't want to talk to anyone.

"Hey guys!" Maddie called. Cody shrank next to his brother.

"Hi!" Zack shouted back, pulling a reluctant Cody through the crowd towards her.

Maddie smiled at the pair, "How're you, Cody?"

Cody fingered the rubber handle of the cane he was leaning on, "Fine."

Maddie and Zack exchanged a glance. Cody seemed distracted and distant. He was busy staring at the room, eyes landing on random people and not swaying his gaze for long amounts of time.

"So, uhm, how's your dad?" Maddie asked Zack in an undertone.

"Same," Zack murmured. "He was pretty bent out of shape about leaving," he nodded towards his twin.

Maddie raised an eyebrow, "Seriously? You'd have thought he'd have been thrilled."

Zack shook his head, "He's not."

Maddie attempted a smile, "He'll come around."

Zack nodded, "Yeah. I think so. I think they poisoned him with that hospital junk."

Maddie laughed, "It's not _that_ bad."

Zack shrugged.

Cody sat down in one of the plush chairs, banging his cane off of the floor. His knee had begun to hurt a little. His gaze slowly drifted to the beautiful hotel doors, but more importantly, past them to the car resting on the curb in the sun. Cody knew, sooner or later, Carey would lazily venture outside to move it. But for now it stayed where it was. A cold chill fell down his spine at just the thought of another horrendous ride in that thing.

"Welcome home, little blonde people!"

Cody turned slowly to find Esteban, the hotel's cheery bell hop standing behind him grinning.

Cody attempted to smile at him.

"Hi Esteban," He said softly.

Esteban extended the tray he held towards him.

Cody shook his head quickly, "No thanks."

Esteban smiled again before heading off with the would-have-looked-delicious-on-any-other-day treats.

Cody bit his lip as he watched the bell hop walk away. Part of him wished he could just enjoy himself today. The other half wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

"Hey buddy!" Zack's voice snapped Cody to attention, "They're gunna cut the cake! C'mon!"

Part of Cody would have willingly jumped up and hurried after his brother, eager for a piece of cake. But the other half would do what Cody really did: follow his brother sullenly without so much as a smile.

* * *

Carey unlocked suite 2330. The boys had headed upstairs about an hour previously. She'd stayed to help clean up, even though Moseby had insisted that she needn't do that. The suite was quiet. The TV was off and no music was blaring from the boys' room. But before she had a chance to get creeped out she noticed the figure sleeping peacefully on the couch, and the reason for the quiet.

A smile spread across Carey's face and tears filled her gentle eyes. She tip-toed across the hard tile floor, quietly grabbing the red blanket from the chair.

She wiped her eyes as she spread the blanket over her youngest son.

"Welcome home, baby," She whispered as she gently kissed his innocent face and stroked his soft, blonde hair, "Welcome home."

* * *

Review Replies

_(chapter one)_

**whobringsforththewind: **hmm, well I hope this answered your question ha :)

**WKDVIP2: **aren't we all? and I hope this cleared up your observations too :)

**jesse-summerlandgirl: **haha, I love cliffhangers :)

**Shy of Silence: **Thanks:)

**smallvillegirl92: **Yes, he is quite sad, isn't he:)

**Future Mrs Cole Sprouse jk lol: **aww, don't cry! I'm glad you like it:)


	4. the third chapter

Hello, all. Well I'd just like to let you know that this chapter isn't entirely finished. There's one more small little bit to be added. But I'm just going to go ahead and post that with Chapter 4. Because I've kept you all waiting too long. And I'm going to be swamped from now until June 1st. So enjoy, and please leave reviews :)

P.S. oh yeah, reviews for OLCBYH Revised Edition are also needed :)

**

* * *

**

the third chapter.

"Into each life some rain must fall, some days must be dark and dreary."

_Henry Wadsworth Longfellow_

_september thirtieth two thousand seven._

_one week later._

"Hey, Buddy."

Cody slowly turned away from the large picture window in the Martins' suite. Zack was standing behind him, an eager smile plastered on his face, baseball in hand.

"You wanna come with me to the park?"

Cody shifted anxiously. He _really_ didn't.

"C'mon, Buddy," Zack urged gently, eyes pleading, "It'll be fun."

Cody leaned against the desk in front of the window. He really _really_ didn't want to go. He hadn't wanted to go anywhere since he'd been home, except, perhaps, the hospital, but Carey hadn't let him. She wanted him to 'settle.'

"I dunno…" He mumbled, digging his shoe into the plush carpet.

"C'mon, Cody. Just for a little while. We'll go and throw the ball around…?" Zack trailed off, watching his younger brother expectantly.

Cody didn't want to look up at his brother, but he couldn't help it.

"I-I…" He really wasn't sure what to say.

"C'mon, Buddy. You've been sitting around this place for a week like a slug, _c'mon_."

Cody shrugged limply. He wasn't sure he'd been acting like a _slug_; maybe a turtle.

"C'mon, just for a little while."

Cody looked up again at his brother. Zack wanted him to come with him as much as Cody _didn't_. Cody bit his tongue. He had a feeling he was going to regret this.

"Fine," He mumbled.

* * *

"Try to catch this one, Buddy!" 

Cody squinted at his brother from across the lawn. They were playing catch in the park. And, so far, Cody hadn't caught very many. Apart from having to try to balance on basically one leg, he'd never been exactly good at any type of sport which yes, included baseball. His cane lay uselessly on the ground. He could hardly catch with _two_ hands, let alone _one_.

Cody staggered, trying to keep balanced but also trying not to put too much of his weight on his bad leg, as Zack wound up and threw the ball in his direction. Cody scowled as the ball landed behind him, and just a tad to the right.

Zack frowned sympathetically as he watched his younger brother limp off to get the ball. This probably wasn't the best choice of things to do. He _should've_ picked something _Cody _liked to do. But that would require doing something _educational_, and there was no way he was going to do something like _that_. Besides, Zack reassured himself, Cody needed to be _outside_, not cooped up in a suite doing math equations.

Cody tried to put on a slightly perkier face as he knelt to pick up the ball. Zack was obviously enjoying this. But Cody was not. His knee was starting to act up again and all he really wanted to do was go home and sleep. But, he didn't want to disappoint his older brother. And he was sure his brother had had enough disappointment for a while.

Cody was about to toss the ball back to his brother, when he felt the slightest drop of water touch his face. He glanced upwards, only to feel more rain hit his face. Cody tensed. _Rain._

"_Damnit!" Kurt yelled, shattering the silence that had fallen over the two yet again. Cody jumped, startled, cringing slightly._

"_What's uhh what's wrong?"_

"Cody?"

_Kurt turned to look at his son, clearly flustered, "This rain's getting too thick. I can't see anything."_

_Cody felt his heart rate pick up, "Wha-what do you mean too thick?"_

"Cody, buddy?!"

_Kurt pointed out the windshield, "That's what I mean."_

_Cody gripped the edge of the seat with both hands. You couldn't make out much of anything outside. The rain was pouring down in sheets and covering everything. The only things, perhaps, that you could see were the bright street lights, but even those were blurred by the water._

"CODY!"

_The car splashed through a puddle, spraying even more water up on the sides of the car._

_Kurt leaned forward in his seat, both hands gripped tightly on the wheel._

_Cody shut his eyes._

"CODY! BUDDY!"

_Hiss eyes flew open just in time to spot two large yellow circles of light coming at them; coming at them __fast._

"_DAD!__" Cody screamed, "__Dad, move__!"_

_The car didn't move._

_Cody screamed again._

Zack was shaking him gently, a look of concern on his face.

"Buddy, are you okay?"

Cody stared distantly across the lawn, eyes filling up with soft tears.

"I wanna go home," He whispered hoarsely.

"Are you sure? 'Cause we could just-"

"JUST TAKE ME HOME, ZACK!" He yelled, a few tears streaming down his face, "TAKE ME HOME!"

**to be continued...**

* * *

Review Replies

_(chapter two)_

**whobringsforththewind: **Thank you so much! Yes, I'll try to update soon.

**hundredandthree-xo: **THANKS, DANGIT :)

**WKDVIP2: **I don't know about _you_, but I sure would.

**smallvillegirl92: **Aw, yes I loved the end as well :)

**applextree: **Thank you so much!


	5. the fourth chapter

Ello. You know how, on my last update I said that there was a "small little bit" to be added to Chapter 3? Yeah apparently I underestimated, because it's very long, or seems to be. Anyway, that's here and Chapter 4 is here as well. Except, there was a part I was going to put in Chapter 4 but randomly decided to put it into Chapter 5, because it'd suit better there. There's an Author's Note in here somewhere, make sure to read it, it's kind of important **(looks like this: 1)**. Enjoy, leave reviews :)

P.S. DMBfan and I updated Gravitus last week sometime, reviews would make us happy :)

* * *

**continued from the third chapter...**

Zack lay in bed later that night, mind still whirring when it should have been sleeping. Cody'd been acting a little strange ever since he'd gotten home from the hospital. And Zack understood that he missed his father, but this was just _weird._ Zack sighed; maybe he shouldn't have taken Cody to the park today. And, to think even further back, maybe he shouldn't have encouraged him to go on that trip. After all, Cody hadn't wanted to go anyway. He'd only gone because _Zack_ had told him to.

Zack threw off the covers and quietly walked across the room to his brother's bed.

"Cody?" He whispered, "Cody, wake up."

Cody let out a small groan and rolled over.

"Cody," Zack lightly shook his brother.

"What?" Cody mumbled.

"You awake?"

"Am now."

"I need to tell you something."

Cody curiously rolled back over to face his brother, his features lit up by the half moon light.

Zack took a deep breath as he flopped onto his younger brother's bed.

"I-" Zack began and stopped short, his eyes flicking down to his knees and away from his brother's eagerly curious and anxious face.

He took another deep breath and closed his eyes briefly, "D-do you remember the uhh the day of the trip? The uh talk we had, b-before you l-left?"

Cody shifted uncomfortably, but nodded slowly.

"Well, I…" Zack trailed off uncertainly.

"Za-"

"I'm _sorry_, okay?" Zack blurted out, interrupting his younger brother in the process, "I'm _sorry_ I forced you to go to the park today even though I _knew_ you didn't want to. And I'm _sorry_ I told you to go on that trip, because otherwise you would be sleeping right now and I wouldn't be telling you this and tomorrow you'd get up and go to school like a normal kid. And I'm _sorry_ I took that from you. I-"

Zack stopped short. His face was literally six inches from his twin's, his breathing hard and deep. He was gripping Cody's shoulders tightly.

Cody was tense under his brother's hands, staring confused up at his elder brother. He wanted to say something, _anything_, but his vocal cords didn't appear to be working at the moment.

Zack silently released Cody, sitting back down on the bed slowly. He stared intently at the palms of his hands for several minutes before looking back up at his bewildered and very confused twin, his own clear puzzlement evident on his face.

"Are you okay?" Zack asked softly.

Cody nodded, still silent and still slightly bewildered.

"Cody, what _happened_ with you today?"

Cody twisted his blanket in his hands. He stared past Zack and out the glass doors to the dark night beyond them.

"Nothing," He lied quietly, as he rolled over away from his brother and his questions and the doors, still twisting the blanket.

Zack twisted around, "That's not true. Seriously Cody, what _happened?"_

Cody bit his lip and pulled the blanket tighter around himself.

"Cody," Zack gently laid a hand on his brother's back, "C'mon buddy. _What happened_?"

Cody stared at the floor. Blankie lay in a random pile by his bed; must have fallen off of his bed while he'd been sleeping, before Zack had woken him up. He wanted to grab it and hold it. But he didn't.

Zack shifted irritably on his brother's bed. Why wouldn't Cody just _tell him_? It wasn't like it was a big deal or anything. He just wanted,_ needed_, to know.

"C'mon buddy," Zack tried one last time, "Just tell me. _What happened?"_

Cody shifted the slightest tad and closed his eyes tightly, desperately wanting, _needing_, his brother to go back to bed. He heard Zack sigh and felt his brother's weight leave the bed. He gently unclenched the blanket.

Zack crawled back into bed, suddenly feeling defeated.

_"Well that was pointless," _He thought miserably as he closed his eyes and quietly descended into sleep.

**

* * *

**

**the fourth chapter.**

"A photograph can be an instant of life captured for eternity that will never cease looking back at you."

_- Brigitte Bardot._

_october first two thousand seven._

_three hours later._

_Cody knew exactly where he was as soon as he was there. It felt, smelled, even tasted the same. He could feel the smooth leather under his hands as he gripped the edge of the seat tightly. He could hear the rain crashing down outside. He could see the familiar street lights, blurred by the power of the rain. And then he heard it._

_"Damnit!" _

_Cody shuddered, and suddenly grabbed the handle of the door. He knew exactly was coming next. And he needed to get out of there before it did._

_"What's uhh what's wrong?" _

_Cody was shaking as his father turned to look at him. His eyes warmed and he could feel tears already forming at the back of them._

_"This rain's getting too thick. I can't see anything."_

_Cody felt the familiar quickening of his heart rate as he heard himself stammer, "Wha-what do you mean too thick?"_

_He shut his eyes so he wouldn't see his father point out the windshield; so he wouldn't see the blurred streetlights, the sheets of water. _

_"That's what I mean."_

_Cody whimpered softly, _"This isn't happening, this isn't happening…" _he tried to reassure himself._

_It didn't work._

_He didn't have to open his eyes to see the bright headlights of the oncoming car. He didn't have to open his mouth to hear himself scream. He could've plugged his ears and still heard the two cars collide, metal scraping against metal._

_Cody let out a choked cry as he forced himself to open his eyes. He wasn't in the hospital, like he had been before. He wasn't in his own bed again. He was still very much in the car._

_He nervously scooted a little ways away from where he'd been sitting. His hands wouldn't stop shaking and his mangled cries came helplessly. _

_He wasn't prepared for what he saw next. He never expected it. And afterwards, he was very glad the nightmare ended there._

_The car creaked and swayed as the other car went as far as it would go. And while the car was creaking and swaying, Cody's father was falling sideways into the passenger seat, his very pale, his eyes very wide, he was very dad. Cody watched as though in slow motion. He let out another broken cry as he desperately tried to escape the prison the car had suddenly become. _

Cody shot straight up in bed, shaking horribly. The tears rolled down either side of his face feverishly. He cradled his arm gently, holding it tightly to his body. Half of him wanted to wake up Zack. The other half didn't want to answer more questions.

Cody let go of his arm and wrapped it and the other around his knees. He buried his face in them, trying to forget about that horrible nightmare, but it wouldn't go away. He whimpered as flashes of his father's face reappeared in his head.

And the rain. Cody felt a cold shiver run down his spine. He'd never been too fond of thunderstorms, but he hadn't been necessarily _afraid_ of them. And now…

Cody lifted his head from his knees slowly. The room was silently still. He could barely hear his brother's deep breathing from across the room. He stared out the doors just as he'd done hours before. His eyes traveled to the nightstand next to his bed. They fell tearfully to the ancient calculator from China his father'd sent him for graduation **(1)**. He remembered how he'd held and tinkered with it reverently. He reached a shaky hand out and ran it along the smooth wood, brushing against another wooden object in the process.

Cody's breath caught in his throat as he caught site of what the other object was. He whimpered softly as he shakily lifted the picture frame off of the stand. Behind the glass were two very happy people, laughing and smiling as the photographer snapped the picture. The Cody in the picture was grinning like crazy while his ice cream melted all over his hand. His father was grinning just as crazily, but Cody knew it hadn't lasted. That night, when their parents thought them to be sound asleep, the twins had overheard Carey and Kurt fighting over something or other (And Cody was glad he didn't remember what). That fall Carey'd filed for divorce and the three had moved in with Zack and Cody's grandmother.

Cody hugged the picture to his chest. Part of him didn't want to remember those times. The other never wanted to forget. He nervously lay back down on the bed, pulling the covers over him.

He clutched the picture frame with the old picture tightly as he once again stared out the glass doors.

Five minutes later he'd fallen back asleep and was dreaming about ice cream cones and taking pictures with Daddy and moving in with Grandma. But, contrary to how they sounded, they weren't happy dreams.

* * *

Carey twisted the knob to the boys' room the next morning. Zack had run off somewhere about an hour earlier. Today was her laundry day, and her day off. Of course, she'd taken time off since Cody'd been home. But she'd be back singing in the ballroom sometime this week (she wasn't _exactly_ sure when). And Cody'd be back in school next week. _That_ she was looking forward to. Cody'd been so distant and detached since he'd been home and she was really hoping that being back with his friends and everything would help. 

Movement caught Carey's eye and snapped her back to the present. Cody was shifting slightly in his sleep. Carey sighed as she grabbed a few pieces of dirty clothing off the end of his bed and tossed them into the hamper she'd brought with her.

She was searching the area near Cody's nightstand when she noticed the picture. Her youngest son was curled up with an old picture she recognized taking from a Fourth of July picnic when the twins were seven. She seated herself on the edge of the bed and gently pried the frame from his hands, which appeared to be permanently attached to the frame as it took several minutes for her to fight it from his grasp.

"You really miss him, don't you?" She whispered as she gently pushed his hair out of his eyes with one hand and set the picture back on the nightstand with the other.

Carey sighed again as she re-tucked him in, biting her lip as she did so. Maybe it was about time she took him to see his father. He did seem to really miss him; he was_ sleeping_ with his picture. And she supposed it really wasn't fair to deny him the right to visit his own father. And eventually he would start nagging her, so she should just avoid that, right? And just _take him_ already?

_"Yes, Carey," _She told herself sharply, _"you _should_ and you _will_."_

She smiled and kissed his check, knowing very well he'd be ecstatic, as she stood and left the room, shutting the door softly behind her (the laundry long forgotten).

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**1 Author's Note: **Hum yes, so I know on the episode "Graduation" their dad was actually _there_. But that wouldn't work out for this story, so yes. He _sent_ the presents to them :)**

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Review Replies

**WKDVIP2: **Thank you, and yeah yeah but that's Zack for you, right?

**whobringsforththewind: **Oh muchas gracias (yeah felt like throwing in some Spanish). And yes I love the quotes too, but they're tricky to find good ones.

**xemily33091: **Ahh, thank you :)

**luveCBLuvJP: **I hope this was soon enough for you? Probably not..so sorry.

**dcloverz: **Oh thanks, I'm a little obsessed with making videos for this story :)

**theo darkstar: **Oh you'll see :)

**killerJack: **o to the kay.


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